Outside of a polling station in Atlanta, Georgia the mood is calm and joyful.
Although long lines have been a problem in the past, today people are in and out in about four minutes – an election worker tells me it’s because so many people voted early.
About 4 million votes have already been cast, or about 80% of the electorate if turnout is the same as it was in 2020, when Biden won the state. Republicans had taken the state going back to 2000 and Trump is hoping to get it back this time around.
The state has strict rules about what you can and can’t do while voting. One woman who walked into the site wearing a Harris-Walz campaign shirt was asked to turn the shirt inside out.
But some of the rules have been relaxed.
Last year a court struck a part of the law that made it illegal to pass out water or food to voters in line. Today a non-partisan group is giving out food and blasting music just across the street. Their goal isn’t to tell people how to vote – it’s just to make sure they do.
